In the electrical and electronic arts, many occasions arise for making reversible connections between one part of a line and another. There are many ways of forming connectors for this purpose, each of which has its own advantages and weaknesses.
A good connector reliably establishes a sound mechanical and electrical connection between the two parts of the line while being economical to construct and having a low entry force. A low entry force is desirable because in the computer and telecommunication arts, it is common to gang together a number of connectors in a single connecting device for simultaneous connection and disconnection. Dozens, or even hundreds, of connectors may be ganged together in a single unit. While in a single connector arrangement, a high entry and disconnect force may not be objectionable, when the equipment is arranged so that dozens, or even hundreds, of connections must be made or unmade simultaneously, it is essential to have a low mechanical force involved without unduly compromising the mechanical and electrical integrity of the connection once made.
One school of low entry connector socket design takes advantage of the fact that when a cylindrical array of straight wires is rotationally offset from one end to the other, there is formed what is termed herein a "basket" which in its central region is necked down to a reduced virtual diameter. Such a wire basket will yieldingly grasp a connector pin inserted thereinto. Connectors constructed in accordance with this technique are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,023,789 to Bonhomme, Mar. 6, 1962; U.S. Pat. No. 3,107,966 to Bonhomme, Oct. 22, 1963; U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,527 to Bonhomme, Sep. 30, 1969; U.S. Pat. No.3,557,428 to Bonhomme, Jan. 26, 1971; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,962 to Bonhomme, Jan. 7, 1975. While connectors constructed according to this design philosophy have many advantages, they have proved difficult to build with the desired uniformity, particularly in their low entry force characteristic, and have tended to be unduly expensive.
Other design approaches have included arrangements which apply forces to bow inwardly connector wires initially arranged in a cylindrical array. One such system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,606 to Neumann, et al., Feb. 25, 1986. In general, the technique of bowing the connector wires inwardly results in harder to control entry force characteristics than does the rotationally offset wire basket technique.